China to let world in on improved jobs barometer

Beijing

CHINESE Premier Li Keqiang has an insider's knowledge on the strength of the world's second-largest economy that helps him determine when stimulus is needed. He's about to share part of the secret.

Mr Li has said several times this year that slower growth is tolerable as long as enough jobs are created, often referring to a survey-based unemployment indicator that's different from the registered urban jobless rate released every quarter. The published gauge excludes migrant workers who aren't registered with local authorities, estimated at more than 200 million.

The more comprehensive jobless rate will be released "very soon", Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, said in Beijing on Tuesday. "…